Thursday, June 30, 2011

First I need to take back my example of Casey's narcissism. It appears that "Marie" is a family name, it is also Cindy's middle name. So, I take back that statement.

The day started with Baez saying there was a discovery violation by the state. *Eye Roll* Baez claims that the prosecution had additional information about Cindy Anthony's work records. JP doesn't let him get very far into it, says Didn't you expect this? I cracked up. The issue was tabled until presentation of evidence was done for the day.

Defense calls Crystal Hollaway aka River Cruz to the stand. She says yes, she & George were intimate, that he came to her house maybe 12 times. RC goes on to testify that one night in Nov. she was telling George that she could not imagine that he could raise someone who would kill their own child. She says at this point George tells her that it was an "accident that snowballed out of control". RC states she could see his eyes full of tears & she did not push the issue. RC testifies the affair lasted until the balloon release. She says they broke up because he was texting her, not actually calling or coming over & she felt that she was worth more than that. RC gets upset, her twin sister notices & responds to George's text with something rude. No further contact was made.

I found it...humorous... that this woman who is claiming to have an affair with a married man, is ALSO involved with another man at the same time!!! Yet, she felt she was "worth" more than just some text messages, are you laughing???

RC says that she told her story to the National Enquirer because the reported told her that she could tell her full story in a fair & non sensational way. RC, did NOT sell her story to NE.... Her twin sister did, for $4000! Oh and RC didn't approach the NE, her (evil) twin sister did. Who do you think ended up with the bulk of that $4k??? I am willing to bet that NE offered the most $$$.

On cross, Ashton brings up a letter that George sent to RC. In this letter George refers to RC's "husband". She says no, I am not married. Then admits she was in another relationship & George was aware of that. The letter goes on to say how important RC's "friendship" is to both George & Cindy. This letter was also signed by both George & Cindy. Also on cross RC says yes she lied to detectives on the 17 of Feb 2010, when she said she & George did not have an affair. Yet, with in days the NE had been contacted. In her initial statement to detectives RC gave a different version & of what George said.... What was really said was "I really believe it was an accident & it went wrong & she (Casey) tried to cover it up. It was an accident that snowballed out of control" Leaving out that first sentence makes the whole thing sound much different. RC was very rattled by Ashton. She goes on to agree that George did not say he was there when Caylee passed or that he knew about it or that Casey told him about it. JP reads a note to the jury stating that they should take RC's testimony only in an effort to discredit George & should not be used to decide Casey's guilt.

Up to this point I was unsure if George did have an affair. After hearing RC's testimony, that the letter referred to a "friendship" between the 3 & that Cindy signed the letter I don't think he did. I believe that RC's (evil) twin sister was there when the police showed up & interviewed RC. ETS saw $$$. She probably tried to talk RC into saying she had an affair with George, when RC refused, ETS contacted the media. Even that scenario gives way too much leeway to RC.

The next key thing to happen is a news video that the defense played. The news video was one of the search command centers. It clearly shows Henkel brand duct tape sitting on the table. George is then recalled, says it could be his tape or someone else's Baez says you are from OH right? George says yes, Baez says Henkel's headquarters is in OH isn't it? Big objection on that one.
Baez moves on to talking about how the family buried there previous pets, Baez asks if the put them in a blanket, garbage bag & then wrapped them with duct tape. George pretty much says he can't remember. Ashton on cross simply asks, "Have you ever taken a dead pet & thrown it in a swamp?" George says no.
Cindy is up next, Baez asks her about buryng the previous pets. Cindy, good mom that she is, says yes the first pet came from the vet that way & they buried the rest in the same manner over the years. LDB is up for cross, she goes over the pets. Cindy says in 2004 Casey was there when two dogs were prepared. They were wrapped in trash bags & taped to keep them compact. Cindy says yes this became a tradition, & that the pets were buried in the back yard. She concedes this is a tradition that both children were aware of. LDB then asks, "Did you use chloroform to euthanize your pets?" No.
"Did you cover their nose & mouth with tape?" No. I say BAZINGA! to that one.
Now Lee gets up and he backs up Cindy's story & that his parents were in charge of pet burial.

I am not sure what the defense was trying to get across with this pet burial stuff. Was it supposed to point a finger at George? If anything it says this is how Casey learned to bury things she loved. That is what I would have gotten from that if I were on the jury.

Casey did NOT testify. While this was the best thing she could do for her defense, I don't think the jury will like it. I think they wanted to hear her side of the story. To hear her explain just what the accident was & how Caylee came to be dumped like trash, to hear/see some remorse from Casey.

The defense rests, jury leaves. JP tells them that tomorrow should finish the presentation of evidence, Saturday morning would have closing arguments, then jury would receive their instructions and deliberations would begin Saturday afternoon.

Of somewhat humorous note here is 28 yo Matt Bartlett. Prior to the jury leaving, Matt was seen giving the bird. This of course is against the law. JP did not give the man ANY slack. Bartlett ended up with 6 days in jail, a $400 fine plus court costs. You can see JP hand down the sentence here.

Baez argues the alleged discovery violation... Poor JP, you know he wishes Baez would get a clue. He tried in several different ways to get Baez to see how silly he was being. Baez wasn't having it. JP ruled it was NOT a discovery violation, no surprises there.

You can see George Anthony's suicide letter by clicking there. My heart goes out to both George & Cindy, I understand ,all to well, the pain that George writes about. I really hope that when Dr. K left yesterday she tried to speak with both Cindy & George, they defiantly need to seek professional help dealing with Casey & Caylee.

Please remember all of my previous admonitions regarding this blog and what I post here. This is a personal blog, I am expressing my personal opinion. I have no intent of misrepresenting the facts of the case. What is contained here are not meant, nor intended to be slanderous. Please remember these admonitions regarding the content you find on my blog.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Court started this morning with JP hearing the motion for mistrial, what was surprising to me was that at 8:30 Casey sat alone at the defense table, at 8:32 Finenll is on the phone to present the motion. 8:35, 8:40 Casey is still alone JP asks Casey if she wishes to speak without Baez present and she says yes, that she agrees with Finnell. This is the first time we have heard her speak in a long time. Baez & Mason don't arrive until about 8:45. I found that pretty surprising. JP reserves the mistrial motion, says he will rule on it prior to a verdict, "if we make it that far".

The defense parade continued today. First up was Cindy, Baez asked if she had ever been told about Lee going into Casey's room, she says no. There was alot of questions & the ladder being on the pool & when Cindy told the detectives. LDB is up for cross, big point here, Cindy says that when Casey says "Surprise, surprise" on the jail video she is referring to the media saying that Caylee drown. Baez was not happy about that one.
George is up next, I am not going to spend a long time on his testimony. He was up there a long time going back & forth with Baez. George broke down several times on the stand, Casey showed zero emotion. George confirms that he is 100% sure that Casey's car smelled like human decomp. He did tell the police that Caylee was missing & Casey must be lying, "Casey was the last person to see her. 1+1 makes 2" While he is saying this Casey is shaking her head no, she did this several times during his testimony. George says that Casey lived on the edge & took things as far as she could. George has to defend his actions things he says to Baez, at one point George says, "You are trying to take my joy away & I'm not going to let you." My heart went out to George. Baez keeps bringing up the media interview's & the motive behind them, to which George says was to bring attention to Caylee & other missing children. Baez asks about molesting Casey, George says No, he would never do anything like that to his daughter. Now Baez makes a big ol' mistake, he brings up George purchasing a gun & attempting suicide. The suicide portion brings about a big proffer so out goes the jury. During this we learn that Ashton is happy as a clam that Baez has brought this up. He is ready with the suicide note, etc etc. Ashton will be calling George back to the stand during rebuttal & will introduce the note at that time. I understand it to be a 6 page letter, that goes directly against the defense's claims. The funny thing, Baez tells JP "Well Ashton didn't object when I brought up the gun." JP says No, as Ashton kind of laughs. Ashton says no I was glad you opened the door. JP says, now he is gonna steam roll right through it. It is too late now for the defense to learn from any of their mistakes in this case & do any damage control, lets hope Baez doesn't try to argue a murder case again. So, the jury comes back they hear about the gun & the suicide letter, not in great detail. George also says that he did not speak to DC, the PI, about searching in the woods. Nothing here was that big of a deal, especially for the prosecution. Oh yea, there were some questions about the gas can, blah blah blah is how I feel about that. More of the defense trying to haze over the real issues/evidence. The next defense witness was Kronk's son (a mini Kronk)

MK (mini Kronk) had only began speaking to his father in 2008. He testified that Kronk told him in Nov. that he knew where Caylee's body was & that he had found a skull. MK says he didn't really give to much weight to Kronk's statement. Then come Dec. when he sees Kronk on the tv, his wife & mother reminded him about Kronk's statement. MK could not say what specific day in Nov. this conversation happened.
Kronk is then recalled Baez focused on inconsistencies in Kronk's statements to police. Mainly what exactly he did when he found the remains & telling the police about his previous calls. Kronk maintained all of his previous statements.
An officer and Det. Melich testified next.
I honestly did not expect the next witness to be allowed by JP. Dr. Sally Karioth, testified as an expert on grief & trauma. The first thing I noticed about Dr. K, is that her voice was very soothing, she came across very intelligent & sympathetic. Dr. K has been at FSU for 40 years. She has written two books, both of which I found to be out of print, & been included in numerous others. Ashton did not want Dr. K to testify or to be considered an expert, so he wasn't very nice to her. Things learned from her: In most cases, if risky behavior caused the death of a child, that behavior will continue & may even increase. Dorothy gives the direct, she gives Casey's past in a hypothetical. Here are some of the items that Dorothy said about this hypothetical family, dad blamed daughters obvious pregnancy on daughters athletics, Mom says is result of a sedentary job, Bro. feels left out as he sees the obvious pregnancy but no one is acknowledging it, daughter waits until 8 months to tell mom she is pregnant, no one asks who the father is until after baby is born, dad picks up daughters car, says it smells of decomp but doesn't call police or the daughter. Dorothy asks Dr. K, how all these things would affect grief. Dr. K says it would be the result of a very shut off family, that if discussions did occur they would be strange to anyone outside the family. Dr. K says that the shopping, partying, tattoo- acting as if nothing happened is caused by the dynamic at home and can last for years. On cross Dr. K says that yes pretty much any emotion can be consistent with grief, but it would fall into positive or negative grief. Dr. K says that all she knew about the case was that it was about a young girl who had "lost" her daughter, she did not speak with Casey at all or read any reports. Following Dorothy's lead Ashton gives a hypothetical listing out all of Casey's lies. Dr. K says this would be someone in crisis who needs help. The behaviors that Ashton laid out is not typical of denial, is typical of "magical thinking". During the direct of Dr. K Casey openly cried, during the cross she looked angry. In my opinion, Dr. K's influence was not heavy on either side. I do think that with a listing of Casey's lies & Dr. K's opinion of someone in crisis who needs help being the last thing the jury heard for the day is going to be heavy on their minds.
After the jury is dismissed JP asks Baez when the defense should rest. Baez says that should be tomorrow. JP says the prosecution should have rebuttal witness' ready to testify tomorrow, with possible closing arguments on Saturday. He also tells them not to make any plans for Sun. or Mon. as it will be up to the jury if they work those days.
Nothing was mentioned today regarding Casey taking the stand. If she does not testify I think that will be due to whatever comes from her conversation with JP. I can't imagine that Casey's testimony could be of any help to her defense, I think it would be in her best interest to remain silent. I lean more towards her testifying. Casey's narcissistic personality is going to push her to show everyone what & why she did this. Look at the Mayo Clinic's definition of narcissistic personality disorder . One of the most shining examples of Casey's narcissism is Caylee's name. Caylee, a combination of Casey & Lee, Marie - Casey's own middle name.

Please remember all of my previous admonitions regarding this blog and what I post here. This is a personal blog, I am expressing my personal opinion. I have no intent of misrepresenting the facts of the case. What is contained here are not meant, nor intended to be slanderous. Please remember these admonitions regarding the content you find on my blog.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

I want to take you back in time to Thursday June 23, on this date Cindy Anthony lied testified about her work schedule in 2008. At that time I looked inside my crystal ball & saw that the prosecution would be contacted Cindy's employer, Gentiva, & that they would have evidence to present on this during the rebuttal. WELL, this morning an updated witness list was released & two Gentiva employes have been added for the state. Hate to say it, but I told you so Cindy!! The two representatives from Gentiva are a lead tech specialist & a senior VP/general counsel. I do wonder if Cindy discussed her possible testimony, surely he would have told her that the likelihood of Gentiva not having exact records to prove if she was or was not at work was very low....
The first witness today was Joe Jordan (JJ), he volunteered to help in the search for Caylee. Mason did the direct. JJ lead teams & was involved in searches off Suburban Dr. JJ states that at about 5 ft in there was standing water & they did not go further in. After remains were found JJ did send email to police saying that he & a team with dogs had searched the same area & he believed the body must have been moved to this location recently. On cross by LBD, JJ admits that he was speculating that was the place where he searched based only on media coverage.
George Anthony is the next witness. I was more impressed with George than I was with any of the other Anthony's. He was very well spoken, not very hesitant in his answers, he was some what defensive in his answers. Regarding the alleged affair with River Cruz (or whatever her name is today), George says it is laughable. He did not confide anything to her. He went to her home to console her because of her brain tumor & Cindy was aware of this. Throughout the questioning Baez phrases questions in this manner, "During a romantic time with River Cruz did you ______" Each time George says, I did not have a romantic relationship with her. It gets totally annoying. On cross Ashton only asks George how long his "friendship" with Cruz lasted.
Cindy is up next. The point of her testimony was for her to state that she did NOT ask either of the PI's to search or to shoot the video. She also states that she did tell a detective, during a Dec. search, that a blanket was missing. Cindy denies having an argument with Lee regarding her sending the PI's to search.
Next up is Lee, it is an Anthony family parade. Lee gets up & says, oh yes I had an argument with my Mom regarding the PI's search because of a tip from a psychic. Lee says he expressly remember this because it was the first time he had heard of looking for a deceased Caylee & this was highly upsetting to him.
Sidebar- Do you think these people get tired of being recalled & recalled & recalled???
Dt. Melcih is up next, he testifies that yes Cindy did say in Dec, that she had had her people to look in that area over a month ago. So now you have 2 people contradicting Cindy's testimony.
Now is when I got a little excited... Kronk is called to the stand
Sidebar- every time they say "Kronk" I think of The Emperor's New Groove"

Krunk is on the stand for under direct questioning for 2 hours! He did get a break for lunch in there, but still. 2 hours of cross from Mason, 2 hours of Mason asking the same 6 questions over & over. The majority of the time was spend with Kronk telling Mason he didn't go in the woods, that Mason wasn't making sense, for Mason to be more specific. Key points: Kronk says in Aug. he went into the brush (woods) to relieve himself, he did not go very far in, he saw what looked like a skull farther in, in standing water. Kronk says he tried to tell his coworkers that were also there that day, but his news was over shadowed by the finding of a dead snake. Later that night Kronk calls the crime line about finding something that looked like a skull. On Aug. 13 he calls again, this time 2 officers come out to Suburban dr. He did not take them into the woods, he simply pointed in the direction where he had seen it. The calls to the police are played & Kronk does state that the area was near the Anthony home, he maintained that at the beginning of the day on Aug. 11 he did not know where the Anthony family lived, but by end of day he did. On the 13th Kronk explain more in depth on cross that when the 2 officers arrived, one of them went towards the brush where he pointed, slipped & fell. The officer then berated Kronk for wasting their time. Kronk said he let the issue go because of how he was treated. On direct Kronk says that when he found the remains in Dec, he put his meter stick into the right eye socket & "pivoted" the skull to make sure it was real. This goes into the defense saying that the remains had been moved. LDB does the cross which lasts, 15 min!! Kronk tells LDB that he did not know the Anthony's or the PI's, he did not have access to the Anthony home, cars, backyard, computer, clothes, blankets or duct tape.

A coworker of Kronk's testifies next, of most importance from this guy is that they stopped in the area off Suburban Dr. to take a rest. At that time he told Kronk that he felt Caylee's body could be in this swampie area. Says he didn't think Kronk was serious about seeing a possible skull because he didn't push the issue. On cross he says that he thought that was a good place to hide a body & because Casey said, "look close to home" on the jail house videos. POW!!! Turn that witness over to the prosecution!

The jury gets released at 4:30. Everyone else stays for some fun proffering. Baez has two guards from the jail testify as to how Casey acts in jail where she spends 23 hours alone. Both testify that she is pleasant. Of course JP, says that both guards testimony is not relevant. Casey's former fiance, Jesse Grund is called to the stand. He states that Lee was always standoffish with Casey & Caylee & himself. Jesse says he asked Casey why that was- she says that she woke up once & Lee was standing over her staring at her & on another occasion she woke up to him groping her. Jesse says at that point he told her that was all he needed to know & the conversation ended. JP did not rule as to if Jesse would be allowed to testify, prosecution argues that it is heresy. JP will rule on this tomorrow morning. Next is some lengthy arguing over a grief Dr that the defense wants to call, mud is slug between Baez & Ashton. Boils down to Dr will be there tomorrow for proffering.

It seems that JP will hear the mistrial motion at 8:30 tomorrow morning.

Now for the BIG news.

JP asks Baez how many more witness' he has. Baez says 6 after the Dr & then pauses. JP says, at that point he will speak with Casey Anthony regarding her decision to testify or not to make sure that it is truly her decision. Wowza. To me this explains the reason for the competency motion. Casey probably told Mason & Baez that she was going to testify. Mason tried to talk her out of it, when she wouldn't back down he went to JP requesting competency testing.

Could we see Casey Anthony on the stand by Friday? I think so. Tell me what you think!

Please remember all of my previous admonitions regarding this blog and what I post here. This is a personal blog, I am expressing my personal opinion. I have no intent of misrepresenting the facts of the case. What is contained here are not meant, nor intended to be slanderous. Please remember these admonitions regarding the content you find on my blog.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Hello all, did you heed my previous admonitions? (I forgot to say this yesterday... it was late cut me some slack)

Well, this morning we learned just what all of Saturday's craziness was about. At the start of the proceedings today JP revealed that the defense had asked that Casey be evaluated for mental competency. I know my jaw hit the floor!!! Casey was evaluated by 2 psychiatrists on Saturday and another on Sunday. After reviewing the Dr.'s findings, JP ruled that Casey IS competent to stand trial. This differs from a mental exam. In requesting this, the defense team stated that they did not believe Casey to be competent, based on privileged discussions with her. The motion does not explain further what Casey did to make the lawyers feel this way. Was she doodling "Mrs. Jose Baez; Mrs. Casey Baez" and got caught? I have read that people in the courtroom Saturday said that she was openly snearing at Mason. Mason's signature does appear on the motion & it was reported that Mason could be heard yelling in JP's chambers. Common thought is that Casey wants to testify, maybe she has come up with another story to tell, & the defense wanted to have the competency hearing first (probably covering their own a$$)The defense also filed (yet another) motion for mistrial on Saturday also. This motion is based off a new court ruling saying that the death penalty is unconstitutional in Fl. I read all the reasons it could affect Casey's case, either way I don't see JP ruling in favor at all.
Testimony of note today:
The cadaver dogs did not search any other of the Anthony's cars, nor the house.
The defense forensic chemist Dr. Kenneth Furton was set to testify. Ashton had some issues, Baez said he was tired of proffering and letting the prosecution know all his questions giving them extra time to prepare. So a mini proffer was held, Ashton didn't want Furton to be able to give his "opinion" but JP ruled it was ok. Don't you know that Baez & croonies were so excited about that! Once more, they failed to consider what the prosecution would do to this guy. The point of Furton's testimony was in regards to his research on chemical compounds related to decomp & doubts he has about Vass' findings. Furton was not overly critical of Vass, Furton stated that this is a relatively new area of research that was still ongoing, with the possibility of other sources being the reason for the chemicals that were identified.
From what I gathered the defense wanted to give the jury the impression that chloroform could have come from a bathing suit or the cleaning products that Cindy Anthony used. Ashton pretty much blew that to bits. Furton did do a good job holding his ground against Ashton. Furton does agree that something WAS decomposing in the trunk of Casey's car, the questions is WHAT. At this point I noticed that Furton had a really pointed nose..... Wonder if it helps him smell?!?
The afternoon/evening was all about some video. A PI, Hoover, who volunteered to help the Anthony's & a former PI, Dominic Casey (DC) now working for the Anthony family- Hoover had video of DC searching the woods off Suburban drive & later a vacant house. The video was shot over 2 days, Novermber 15 & 16. The audio on the video gave the impression that they were looking for trash/plastic bags, but Hoover could not discuss because of heresay. DC gets on the stand and reveals that the reason he went to these specific spots is because of a psychic, J. Lucas. Cindy Anthony had sent Lucas a teddybear that belonged to Caylee, at the advise of DC. After receiving the bear, Lucas then calls DC and tells him where to look, DC says this is who he was speaking to on the phone in the video. The point of the video is that the defense is trying to show that less than one month before Caylee's remains were found, DC was also there & did not find the remains. That means that Roy Kronk had to have brought the remains between Nov. 18- Dec. 10, at which time Casey was in jail.
I don't believe this video proves anything or gives any doubt. The jurors did pay close attention to the monitors & to the witness but eyes don't deceive. During their presentation the prosecution showed detailed photos of where & how Caylee's remains were found, from those photos you can clearly see all of the leaves & other debris that covered the items. Testimony was given that one bone was found buried in inches of muck, not to mention all of the roots and plant growth in the remains. I believe the video showed the jurors just how well those remains were hidden, which is also an indication of how long they had been there.
In his opening statement Baez admits that Caylee's death was an accident that Casey was aware of. Isn't this an admittance of guilt? Willful neglect + accidental death= First degree murder.
JP indicated this afternoon that he would most likely hear the motion for mistrial on Wed or Thur. This should be very interesting.

Please remember all of my previous admonitions regarding this blog and what I post here. This is a personal blog, I am expressing my personal opinion. I have no intent of misrepresenting the facts of the case. What is contained here are not meant, nor intended to be slanderous. Please remember these admonitions regarding the content you find on my blog.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

It has been a busy weekend, I wasn't able to blog until now, Sunday night at almost 9:30.

So, lets get started with Friday...
Cindy Anthony was the first witness called. By question 2 LDB is objecting to the playing of a video. I am not sure if the video had already been shown in court, maybe just still photo's from it. LDB was overruled and the video was played. The video is of Casey & Caylee, Casey is laying on the floor bouncing Caylee on her knees. I looked at Casey watching this video, tears fell from her face & she had an almost wistful smile on her face. For a moment, I felt sorry for her. I know how it feels, what that smile means. During the sidebars of her testimony today, Cindy cries. She doesn't seem as prepared today. The defense shows photos of Caylee climbing the ladder to the pool at all different stages & then Caylee in the pool with Cindy still coming down the ladder. Cindy was very emotional during the showing of these photos, Casey was unemotional. Of course, LDB objected to all of them. Cindy did say that prior to her disappearance Caylee had swam 3-4 times a week, always with a life jacket. Also during Cindy's vacation she & Caylee swam daily. Cindy did go over all the precautions that they had taken with Caylee & the pool. I have to admit that this line of questioning did make me think that maybe Caylee did drown, yet that still doesn't explain the duct tape....
Rather than do more summarizing, details that you have probably already read, I am gonna talk about something that have occurred to me....
George Anthony was the last one to see Casey & Caylee when they left the house that day. Did Casey have a bag? Did Cindy find clothes for Caylee in the car? Did she wash them along with those of Casey's?
I have a hard time getting past what Dr. G said, 100% of the time people call 911... That is your automatic reaction, trust me I know. If it was an accidental drowning, why try to hide it?
Also, in the pics of Casey partying are difficult to take. She appears genuinely happy. I know personally pics of me 2 months after losing Gavin, it is obvious the smile doesn't come easy & it doesn't make it to my eyes. You don't see that in the photo's of Casey....
During Lee's testimony he and Casey cried... Cindy was also crying. When they recessed for lunch I noticed that as Lee left the stand Baez speaks to & comforts Lee. I am very suspicious of both Cindy & Lee's testimony for the defense. Lee's demeanor on cross was totally different. I can not see how he could have lived in the home, room next door to Caylee's & not known that preparations were being made for a baby. What is Baez trying to point out with the possible "cover up" of Casey's pregnancy?
As Friday went on with objection & sidebars & sidebars, I do not think that the defense thinks about what the prosecution will ask in response to their questions. This is legal 101, before asking a question you need to know how the witness will answer, & you must anticipate where opposing council might take that line of question. It seems the defense doesn't do this, or maybe they just like to be cry babies.
During the proffer I could sense the tension, you know the jury must sense this when they return.

Oh team Baez.... will you ever learn? I was honestly surprised that Saturday's proceedings had to be cancelled because, yet again there is a discovery violation by the defense. Poor JP & that jury.
I don't think that the defense will rest & the prosecution be able to rebut by weeks end. How sad that these jurors have to spend the holiday without their families. Surely JP will have something special for them.
When do you think we might see the jury begin deliberations?

Thursday, June 23, 2011

This morning's testimony was full of boring scientific information that was barely heard between the "Objection" and the "Sustained" that were flying. The defense brought in a toxicology expert Logan, well the defense thought he was an expert at lots more than just toxicology. The plan of the defense was to use Logan to discredit Dr. Vass, the Body Farm and the tests that were done there. What happened you ask? Good ole' Ashton, he easily pointed out that Logan didn't have any specific or expert knowledge in any other area other than toxicology. So the witness was considered an expert in toxicology alone by JP's rule. This took away every single question that the defense planned to ask. I will give Dorothy Simms credit, she tried to sneak them in. Ashton was always ready with his "Objection", the most common reason was for "outside of expertise". This went on for hours. There were at least 5 sidebars for this one witness.

The big news of the day is Cindy Anthony's testimony, which happened after lunch.
Baez starts out by asking if Cindy recalls doing any searches in March 2008 that might have included chloroform. Cindy says "Yes." then pauses- Baez looks down at his papers no longer at Cindy. Cindy then goes on to say that she was worried about one of her yorkie's that was small and sleeping alot. She says both dogs would eat "bamboo leaves" from the back yard, so she started looking up things that would have been in the backyard that could cause the small dog to be more sleepy than the other. Then she says she started looking up chlorophyll, which led her to chloroform. So Baez says, I don't get how you can mix those up. Cindy says not mixed up and then goes into this kind of technical explanation that there is bacteria associated with chlorophyll production and then that comes from these certain colors of plants. She says that prompted her to look up chlorophyll because some species of algae, sea weeds and "stuff" naturally produce chloroform. Mind you Cindy has offered up all this information to Baez TWO questions!! So then Baez says, how do you know that you did these searches in March. Oh well Cindy says, because I looked up several other things at that time. She says something about a scare involving hand sanitizers and small children happened in March. So she looked up the other stuff and the ingredients in hand sanitizer around the same time. She says that the alcohol being in the hand sanitizer made her look up other things that they had around the house like acetone, hydrogen peroxide & rubbing alcohol.
First of all, if you were concerned about what was growing in your back yard and it being harmful to your dogs you would search things like, bamboo leaves, plants harmful to dogs, etc etc. Things like that. You aren't going to go and look up chlorophyll.
Second, Cindy is a NURSE!! She doesn't need to look up the dangers of hydrogen peroxide, acetone or rubbing alcohol, these are all things she should know!!!
When asked why she remembers being home from work on those days she says there are a several holidays in March that they celebrate and she always takes some time off. She says that Casey's birthday and their anniversary is in March. Well I looked it up people, holiday's in March are Dr. Seuss bday, daylight savings time change, St. Patricks day and the first day of Spring. I am going to tell my boss tomorrow I need time off for the time change and the first day of spring!! Come on!!!

During cross Cindy claims that she doesn't know what her computer does, that she doesn't know how it works, but she knows all about chlorophyll and plants.... The Cindy Anthony that testified today was totally different than the one who testified at the beginning of the trial. Cindy appeared ready, she had answers all mapped out, she knew she was going to have to fight it out with LDB. Cindy's body language on the stand seemed to be that of great discomfort. When answering Baez's questions most often she would look down. Cindy has sat in the courtroom and she heard what the computer experts found, she knows what looks the most damning for Casey. I think this was Cindy's attempt to try and keep the death sentence at bay. George and Cindy's lawyer made a statement that they just want to know what happened to Caylee and to see justice done. They also do not want to see Casey receive the death penalty and they continue to stand by her.
Baez also questions Cindy about the Sunfire, when it was purchased, who was the primary driver.... He shows a photo of the trunk liner with a stain identified. Baez asks Cindy if she has ever seen this stain before, she doesn't even need to think, yes she says- when we bought the car. WHAT!!!
I expect that the prosecution has already made contact with Cindy's previous employer to see if they have anything time stamped showing Cindy was at work on those days and times in March. They are probably also looking at the pings on her cell phone, these will tell what area she was in. I wonder if Cindy thought about the sentence for committing perjury...

I also wonder, why didn't Baez ask Cindy about Casey allegedly telling her mother about the abuse from Lee? Is he going to call her back and ask her that? You know the jury is wondering the same thing. Surely George Anthony will be called to testify.... will he lie to try and save Casey? Who will be the defenses' last witness? Will it be Casey? Will we all hear a new version of what happened to Caylee?

Please remember all of my previous admonitions regarding this blog and what I post here. This is a personal blog, I am expressing my personal opinion. I have no intent of misrepresenting the facts of the case. What is contained here are not meant, nor intended to be slanderous. Please remember these admonitions regarding the content you find on my blog.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Today, the defense actually appeared to be capable!! It was surprising. It seems that the defense has now decided to focus on "what's not there". A total of 6 witnesses testified today.
Maureen Bottrell, FBI Geologist testified that of the more than 20 shoes tested that belonged to Casey Anthony, none of them had soil that matched that of where the remains were found. On cross, MB did agree with Ashton that the lack of soil was meaningless & did not prove that the shoes had never been there. MB did say that testing was begun on the shovel but was stopped when the remains were found. Baez did ask MB what other "meaningless" tests the FBI does.... that didn't go over well

Madeline Montgomery, FBI forensic toxicologist testified as to hair that was tested for 11 different drugs. The hair was from a "hair mat" found with Cayle's skull. (I hate hearing them say "hair mat")The primary focus had been for Xanax & Klonopin, but the FBI method also tested for 9 more. The results were negative for all 11 drugs. On cross MM stated that hair was not the best type of sample to examine for drug exposure & the negative result did not mean that the drug was not taken. Ashton asked if drugs taken within moments or even a couple of hours of death would show in a hair sample, MM said no. MM also testified that her lab did not test for chloroform.

Dr. Sigman, from the University of Central Florida, testified that he could not conclusively determine that human remains had been in the trunk of Casey's car. Ashton asked Sigman if there was an odor coming from the trunk of the car. Sigman agreed that yes there was an odor. Mind you Sigman was near the car after the trunk liner & spare tire had been removed.

Dr. Michael Rickenback, FBI chemist testified about samples he took from Caylee's car seat, the steering wheel cover and a doll. The car seat & steering wheel cover samples were negative for chloroform, while the doll showed very low levels that were inconclusive. Dr. R, made sure to point out that he tested only "samples" & that did not mean that chloroform could not have been somewhere else on the seat or wheel cover. I love it when a "defense" witness shoots them in the foot.
Next was when Baez made a mistake. Baez asked Dr. R to testify regarding a Gatorade bottle & a Disney bag that were found near the remains, these items had NOT been entered into evidence. So Baez looks like a dummy again for not knowing/following procedure. Dr. R testified that the Gatorade bottle had a small amount of murky white liquid inside that could have came from a cleaning product & a mixture of testosterone compounds. Dr. R also said there was a syringe inside the bottle that also contained an oily yellow substance. This substance was found to have low levels of testosterone & low levels of chloroform. I am still trying to figure out what the defense was trying to do with this testimony. The prosecution didn't bring it up... If I were a juror I would think that Casey first tried to get Caylee to drink whatever she had put in the Gatorade bottle & had the syringe for back up. Several witnesses have already testified that common household chemicals usually contain chloroform. In my opinion the defense only hurt their case with this witness & evidence.
Last was Karen Korsberg Lowe, FBI lab tech. KKL testified that she tested numerous hairs collected from various places including Casey's closet & items from the trash bag in the trunk, for decomposition. Out of hundreds of hairs tested only one showed signs of decomp. There was also one hair collected that could not be matched to any of the samples that KKL had. Ashton pointed out on cross that Casey had not been staying with her parents between June 16-July 15, suggesting that clothes from Casey's closet might not be relevant. Baez asked KKL if any items were tested from the apartment where Casey had been staying. KKL said if she had been given any testing would have been done.

JP instructed the defense to to have an estimate for how much more time would be needed to present their case, by Friday. We already know that prosecution will be calling rebuttal witnesses. Court ended at half day today due to a meeting JP had to attend. Court will resume tomorrow at 9.

I get some of what the defense is trying to get the jury to see. Nothing they have presented gives me true pause or any reasonable doubt. The defense keeps bringing up the absence of or small amounts of chloroform, it seems to me all this is doing is reminding the jury that Casey did 84 searches for the word chloroform & that however small it has been found on key pieces of evidence. The big question is will Casey testify... I think Casey wants to testify. She wants to be center stage, all the attention on her. The question really is, will Baez & Mason convince her that would be a BIG mistake...

Please remember all of my previous admonitions regarding this blog and what I post here. This is a personal blog, I am expressing my personal opinion. I have no intent of misrepresenting the facts of the case. What is contained here are not meant, nor intended to be slanderous. Please remember these admonitions regarding the content you find on my blog.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

I love crime tv… fictional- Law& Order, or true crime- Snapped etc. I love it all. Discovery ID is one of my fav channels. For several years I seriously considered becoming a lawyer. I have become obsessed, for lack of a better word, with the Casey Anthony trial. I remember when Caylee went missing and everything that happened after that. I don’t know if it is my love for true crime or my personal loss of a child that makes me so interested. Every day I watch the trial, live stream, while I work. Thank goodness I am a good multi-tasker and can get my work done and listen at the same time. (It helps that I have a super cool boss.) I take my breaks and my lunch around when court recesses. Yes, I know… I have a problem.

Since I have such a problem and have so much to say about what goes on each day in the courtroom I have decided to post my daily summary and thoughts on my blog. (Rah probably hopes this gets him out of the at least hour summary he is forced to listen to daily). Yes I know it is a scrappy blog, hey I might do a scrapbook page about this. (I have scrapped stranger things, don’t judge me!)

The feed that I tune into can be found at www.wesh.com, just click on live blog. I like this feed because you have the camera view of the witness and in the corner is a camera constantly on Casey. Also, along the right side is a real time run of all the reporter tweets about what is happening. This is helpful because they are actually sitting in the courtroom and can help give a feel for what it is like in there. Wesh.com also has a timeline that is helpful; it lists things that national media didn’t pick up.

This trial has played out like a scripted tv show, actually I don’t think anyone could write something as good as this stuff!! First lets talk about the key players here, for the prosecution you have Jeff Ashton (Ashton) and Linda Drane Burdick (LDB). For the defense, is Jose Baez (Baez) who is acting as lead, and Cheney Mason (Mason). Judge Perry (JP) is presiding and he rocks. Wesh.com also has a who’s who that you can look at.

I am going to start with a summation of today, but let me say that things haven’t been going well for the defense since they began presentation of their case. If I were Baez I would be real concerned with what could be happening to me when this trial is over. He for sure will not be counting JP as a friend.

I had been hearing that the FL bar association had received several complaints on Baez, but had yet to see anything concrete, here is a link to that info. FL Bar Investigates

Please note what Dominic Casey, tells the bar.... and then the previous Judge even writes a letter about it. I can totally see Baez doing that.
I honestly think that I could do a better job of defending this case than Baez can. He is so ridiculous. The mistakes he is making are things that you learn NOT TO DO from Law & Order!!

Today, before the jury can even come in there was an evidentiary issue that Ashton argued against- allowing testimony by defense DNA expert Dr. Richard Eikelenboom (RE) about recovering DNA from decomposition fluid. Baez said he primarily wanted RE to testify about the degradation of DNA, which Ashton had no problem with after taking the expert’s deposition on Monday. Perry said he could hold a Frye hearing next week on the admissibility of testimony on DNA analysis of decomposition fluid if the defense requests it. This evidentiary issue is not Baez first, the unbelievable part waswhen he tried to blame the witnesses’ wife for RE not doing the proper report. In the above link it says that JP fined Baez back in Jan. for a "willful" violation. I think today's willful violation puts him at a total of 3, plus possible contempt charges when the trial is over.

The first witness for the defense today was Jane Bock, a forensic botanist, who testified Caylee's remains could have been at the site where they were found -- less than a mile from her grandparents' home -- for as little as two weeks, based on plant evidence found there. Now when she said this, I said“What is this crazy lady taking?” I can’t see plants growing up through a canvas bag, two garbage bags and then a skeleton in two weeks… Never fear Ashton took care of her on cross. On cross-examination, she seemed less sure about the skeleton, saying she had only studied root growth on skeletons that had been in place for years. Here comes my favorite highlight from her testimony, Ashton asked Bock if she was aware that one of Caylee’s bones was found buried in four inches of “muck.” She said she did not know that. Rather than changing her two-week estimate, though, she suggested a dog or coyote might have buried it. Ashton’s face was priceless when she said this!!

The jury leaves for lunch. Everyone else gets to wait because Baez has some issues, little did Baez know a bomb was about to be dropped. Baez had issue with two pieces of discovery he had received from the prosecution. The first regarding the possibility of a new witness and new information about April Whalen, LDB got up and explained that this was new information they had just received. JP, of course, wanted to know what this April Whalen had to offer… WELL, turns out she was in jail for 5 days in June 2009, in the same dorm as Casey Anthony. LDB says they are still investigating if Casey & April had any direct contact, but this is important because it would go directly to discredit the defenses opening statement. Why is that you ask? Sadly on Christmas Day 2007 April Whalen’s 15 month old son, Isaiah, drown in the family pool and was found by his grandfather. Sure sounds just like the story that Baez gave in his opening statement as to what happened to Caylee. LDB said they were unsure at this point if this information would be used, but they wanted to make the defense aware of it.

Baez second issue was with a CD containing information about the Anthony family’s computer records from June 16, 2008. He argued it was unfair that the state was providing this evidence now when they have had the computer data for nearly three years. He also noted that the prosecution’s computer expert has already testified. Guess what Baez, you have had a copy of the Anthony family’s hard drive for the same three years!!! It seems that Baez felt that the prosecution should tell them exactly where to look and what to look for on that hard drive. Well I think common sense would tell you to look all around the days that Caylee was last seen!!! My favorite part here is when JP tells Baez, “Once you receive the information it is your ‘bidness’ what you do with it.”HAHAHAHAHA I love it!! So Baez got totally shot down and now they have to find a computer expert…

Dutch forensic scientist Richard Eikelenboom (RE) testified after lunch. He testified that it would be possible to extract a DNA profile from the duct tape covering the mouth portion of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony's skeletal remains, even with a small DNA sample. He also stated he did not ask to test the duct tape, although he said he offered to investigate. And, he said, he does not know whether Anthony's defense submitted any items to retest.

Baez asked him if it was true that he did not retest the tape because prosecutors did not want him to take possession of it, prompting an angry objection from Ashton and a sidebar conference was held. JP sustained Ashton's objection, saying Baez could not ask that question. RE went on to testify that when tape is used to cover a person's mouth, it's possible the sticky side of the tape could contain skin cells from the face as well as DNA from the mouth. However, he told Ashton, factors such as heat and water have "a very detrimental effect" on DNA and it would be difficult to determine a profile from tape that, in this case, had been exposed to the elements for as long as six months. We could see RE back again pending the decision at the Frye hearing. I am not sure if that hearing will be televised.

So far of the witnesses that the defense has called the only two that have seemed to know they were on the defense side was Dr. Spitz and Jane Bock. Yet both of those testimonies did not help the defense in the least. Dr. S probably could not have hurt them more. To see Dr. S, get cranky go here.

I will save my opinions of Dr. S and his testimony for tomorrow, since it is going to be a short day in court. JP has something to do.

ADMONITIONS:

Please remember all of my previous admonitions regarding this blog and what I post here. This is a personal blog, I am expressing my personal opinion. I have no intent of misrepresenting the facts of the case. What is contained here are not meant, nor intended to be slanderous. Please remember these admonitions regarding the content you find on my blog.

PS I have no idea why the font and spacing change all through this post. I spent 20 mins trying to fix it...

Sunday, June 19, 2011

My Minds Eye had a sketch contest this week. I was excited because I had just received most of the Fine & Dandy Blue line.
Here is the sketch

Other than using 80% MME products you had to use a song as a theme. The song got to be your choice.

Several weeks ago I picked up the first greatest hits album by The Judds for only $5. As I drove to work listening & singing along, Give a Little Love, came on. Inspiration struck when I sang, "Sweet and big blue eyes make a poor heart skip a beat" I immediately thought of my son Aidan.
The Fine & Dandy line was perfect!! Here is my lo

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The only thing that wasn't MME is the journaling card. I used Photoshop Elements to make the background of the photo be black and white.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Here is my latest lo. I was glad to get to work on something that wasn't school related.
I used papers and embellies from The Girls Paperie and papers from the Fleamarket line from Colorbok. I think that these two lines compliment each other perfectly. Sad thing is, Joann's doesn't offer the Fleamarket line in all the stores or even online. I only found a couple of pics on the Colorbok website. I did a good bit of distressing and inking on this lo.

We are off to the beach in 2 days!!! I can't wait... granted I still haven't scrapped all of last years beach trip... lol